1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device having a technique of white balance control, an imaging method and a computer readable recording medium storing a program for performing the imaging method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as an imaging device, except for a digital camera for use by professionals in press photography, an imaging device in which white balance correction is intentionally performed has been generally developed. This white balance correction is performed in order to avoid a complete white image when shooting “a white subject” so as to leave in the image an atmosphere in which the shooting is performed in an environment of a low color temperature light source by a red light source such as a light bulb and an incandescent lamp.
However, some photographers prefer to photograph a white subject as a white picture without leaving a color from a light source in an image. Consequently, an imaging device in which a photographer can select whether or not to leave a color of a light source in an image has been also developed (refer to JP2002-218495A).
In addition to the above circumstance according to a photographer's preference, shooting in an environment of a low color temperature light source has a circumstance arising from a subject.
For example, when a subject originally includes warm colors having high intensity, if the subject is shot in a lower color temperature light source and a white balance correction process which leaves a color of a light source in an image is performed, “red” is saturated which deteriorates color reproducibility, so that the quality of the image shot in the environment of the low color temperature light source is deteriorated. If this color reproducibility is deteriorated in a case where a subject is food such as meat or raw fish including high intensity warm colors, an undesirable image quality is obtained, for example, the fresh look of the food is deteriorated. In particular, this image quality becomes a problem in macro shooting and shooting in which a distance to a subject is short.
In this case, there may be a case which does not perform the white balance process if a photographer determines not to leave a color of a light source according to a color of a subject. However, such an operation is complicated and also such a determination is difficult.